Nora Vagi Brash

Nora Vagi Brash (14 December 1944 – 23 April 2024) was a Papua New Guinean playwright and author. She was a laureate of the Independence Medal for her work as a playwright.

Early life and education Nora Magi Vagi was born on 14 December 1944 in Dagoda, Central Province, Papua New Guinea.

Career Brash told an interviewer "I started writing when I was about seven years old. My father and grandmother had passed away and I was fascinated by their burial sites, the smell of the earth, the way the moonlight fell on the trees. I would sit by the grave and write poems." She became active in the theater, wrote scripts for puppet shows based on Papua New Guinean traditional stories, and eventually became the artistic director of the National Theatre Company, a post she held till she left for further studies at the University of Papua New Guinea in 1978.

Brash wrote plays for stage and radio in a combination of English, Tok Pisin, and Hiri Motu, satirically dealing with conflicts between urban and rural people during the modernization of the country. Her Which Way, Big Man?, first performed in 1976 by the National Theatre Company, depicts a pretentious public official and his wife giving a party to celebrate his promotion, but after he is accused of corruption it ends in a drunken brawl.

Nora Vagi Brash died at Port Moresby General Hospital on 23 April 2024, aged 79.

Awards and honours In 1985, Nora Vagi Brash was awarded the Independence Medal for her work as a playwright. and appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2018 Birthday Honours "for service to the community through active promotion of local culture and heritage in her roles as author, playwright, and poet".